Children Mining Gold in the Phillipines

Soumis par raymond le mar, 10/13/2015 - 12:22

In the Philippines, children dive underwater, swim down a wooden shaft barely wider than their shoulders, and mine for gold – all while breathing through a narrow tube. Underwater mining – called compressor mining – is not seen anywhere outside the Philippines, but other forms of mining involving children on these islands are more familiar. Boys lowered 75 feet into mine pits, and small children, even 8, 9, or 10-years-old, handling poisonous mercury to separate the gold from the ore. The Filipino government has good laws banning child mining and the use of mercury, but they’re simply not enforced. The laws need to be enforced in order to protect these children. They are in danger. What do you think? How would you feel doing this as a child? Lets help them somehow!

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."
— Nelson Mandela